>> steve: before we leave you today, we've got to thank marlenea for the decorations. we got the christmas decorations for a week. they've been fantastic. thank you so much. >> brian: it's the best we've ever had. if you have to run from the tv, run to the radio. we have a lot of exciting guests coming your way. >> steve: a big show for you. >> gretchen: "fox & friends" christmas party picks monday. that show today. good morning, everybody on a bowing out u.n. ambassador susan rice is out of the running as secretary of state. many questions remain on the response to terror attacks in benghazi.

some wonder whether or not we'll learn the truth. good morning, everybody. i'm bill hemmer. welcome to "america's newsroom." we have our nice little "elf" here today. >> i'm alisyn camerota in for martha today. she wants to avoid a vote, length i, disruptive and costly confirmation process. critics say regardless of ryce's decision the investigation into benghazi will continue. here is lindsey graham on that. >> i hold her accountable and responsible for misleading the american people. failures on the intelligence community. there is fog of war component. i think she was chosen for a reason bill: still more on that statement now with buy on york, chief political correspondent for the "washington examiner". good morning to you. so many questions remain.

first off why did they make this move now? >> because time was running out and the administration, i think, hoped that opposition among republicans in the senate to rice would diminish but it didn't. the thing that really killed it, they understood, john mccain, lindsey graham, kelly ayotte opposed her. the thing that killed it when she met susan collins who introduced her at her confirmation hearing and been a rise supporter and said there were serious questions about the nomination. at that point the handwriting was on the wall. bill: she is considered a moderate, if you have a good chance of getting through that would be the sign you have a chance but what graham just said, she was the most politically compliant person they could find, that's loaded. >> well i mean this goes back to what she said in the aftermath of those benghazi attacks when she said it wasn't a terrorist act. it was the result of

spontaneous protests against that islamic video. we know that susan rice was picked in part because of her intense loyalty to president obama. not like she is the best-loved person in washington. it is the fact she has been with the president for quite a while. she was a clinton person and went with obama early in 2006 and 2007. there is a lot of loyalty there and the president could count on her. bill: within a week, you were five days when you saw susan rice in the following image. five different sunday talk shows on every network on that sunday. now here is part of the interview on "fox news sunday" wherechris wallace started all of this too, listen. >> what happened initially it was a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired in cairo. as a consequence of the video. people gathered outside the embassy and then it grew very violent. bill: as a consequence of the video. do we get to the bottom of

benghazi now? >> well, republicans are certainly going to keep trying. hillary clinton who had a much bigger role in all this, will testify before the house and the senate soon but i tell you they're very frustrated. representative jason chaffetz who is helping lead this investigation in the house, wants to talk to a lot of people who were survivors of this attack. it is not just that ambassador stevens and three others were killed, several others were injured and they have information. he can not get in contact with them. there is lot of conflict between republicans on the hill and the administration that has not been resolved. bill: that is an interesting point. all the people have a story. the question is whether or not we hear is publicly. byron york, thank you. >> thank you, bill. bill: alisyn. alisyn: ambassador rice is expected to meet with the president privately today. the president has been vocal for her and blasting republican critics for what he calls unfair and misleading attacks on rice. bill: more americans want to

see senator john kerry nominated as the next secretary of state more than ambassador rice even before she took her name out of public contention. the latest fox polling showing 23% supporting senator kerry, 19% went for ambassador rice. 37% said they want to see someone else in that job. 18% saying not so sure. alisyn: interesting to see what everyone says during these two hours. there are now conflicting reports whether secretary of state hillary clinton will actually testify to a house committee on the libyan attacks. we reported to you that clinton was expected to face the house foreign affairs committee next week. now the state department is saying not so fast. in just a couple minutes we'll speak to congressman ed royce from the foreign affairs committee to see what he thinks about all this. bill: what do youing this weekend, huh? what is john boehner doing this weekend? the speaker of the house and president obama met face-to-face for a 50 minute

meeting late yesterday afternoon. the two men spoke for about an hour. as speaker boehner left the capitol he said, quote, we're doing great. before that meeting the president did a round of local tv interviews and told a reporter the following. listen here. >> the big problem right now is that republicans in the house are resistant to the idea of the wealthiest americans paying higher tax rates and i understand they have a philosophical objection. on the other hand, you know, we're willing to make some really tough decisions about spending cuts. bill: well, it's boehner plan for the weekend maybe the real sign of any progress. we'll tell you what he is doing and talk to "fox news sunday" anchor chris wallace on that coming up a bit later this morning. alisyn: fox news alert for you now because defense secretary leon panetta announcing that the u.s. is sending patriot missiles and troops to turkey to deal with the growing threat from the neighboring syria. 400 troops will join nato forces and stand ready to

act if syria intends to unleash chemical weapons. fox's leland vittert is in our middle east bureau. leland, just a few days ago the head of nato said the assad regime is about to collapse. why deploy these troops now? >> reporter: it really has to do with showing solidarity with the turks who are clearly very scared and timing comes a couple days after we learned that the syrians were mixing chemical weapons to possibly use. so this is the united states and nato's way of really get being behind turkey, a close ally saying we support you. the secretary of defense was quick to point out that the patriot missiles are just that, defensive weapons that will be put down along the syrian border to protect syria, protect turkey from attacks by syrian jets or scud missiles that would fly in but that is not exactly the whole story. the patriots could be easily programmed and put in a no-fly zone over northern syria. so far turkey is denying

that as is nato saying this is purely defensive move by turkey but if there were to be a no-fly zone in the coming months it would be a game-changer because the rebels control much of northern syria. the president assad is using his air force and the first real step to provide sis -- assistance to rebels to overcome president assad's regime would be a no-fly zone. we have to read behind the headlines to see what else the patriot missiles could mean for the larger conflict. alisyn: that is good context. what is russia saying now about the assad regime? >> reporter: yesterday they came out and said, all right, we think there is a possibility president assad would fall. this is one of those things speaking to truth as this russian diplomat did may not exactly jive with the party line. inside baseball here as russia came out today and forcefully gotten behind president assad said, no, no, our diplomat was misquoted. he was saying what the opposition was saying. a little fanciful.

there was hope as the humanitarian crisis increases inside syria there are many more hundreds if not thousands of people dying inside syria that russia may be loosening ties to president assad. sadly for the united states and allies we found out that russia is continuing to hold fast with president assad their long time ally and happy to see him kill as many of his own citizens as he would like. alisyn: thanks leland. bill: you think about the last two years of headlines and think about this region how much it dominated the coverage we've had and here and all over the world frankly. here is syria in the middle of all this mess here but headlines out of turkey, libya, and into iran way to the east but specifically with regard to these patriot batteries, patriot miss sis ills -- missiles, advance to here is the border that separates turkey and syria. about 500 miles from west to

east. you heard leland talk about the patriot treat missile battersries. there is 500 mile border. you have a couple of significant border crossings here and over here. damascus the capital city is down in this area. it is our understanding that the two batteries the u.s. will send, 400 troops will go along with that, you're talking about an area maybe 60 miles north of the border, said to be defensive measures only. so this goes along with what we've heard from germany and also the netherlands agreeing to send some patriot missile batteries there as well along with troops as well. you're looking about 1200 troops between the three countries. you want to contain it. so far you've been pretty good keeping it within the borders of syria. if it spills over you're looking at area already racked by war for two years. what can happen then? they want to make sure that doesn't. we'll watch that. alisyn: next three weeks obviously will be critical.

we're just getting started here. we have a heartbreaking story of heroism linked to the horrible oregon mall shooting. we'll talk about a man who put his own life to try to save another. bill: a former u.s. marine locked up in mexico on what his family call as trumped up charge. the desperate plea for the government's help and serious concerns now that his life is in danger. >> i asked you to continue to pray for him. we got a call from him last night. he's just in a really tough situation because it's public in mexico at this point. so we are praying that you will pray for his protection and his quick release.

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warning has been issued but coming up we'll talk with a seismologist to see if this could be the start of something bigger. bill: there are new concerns secretary of state hillary clinton will not testify about the attacks in benghazi. both the house and senate foreign relations committees had announced she would testify and in fact that would happen in about a week's time. now the state department says that is not such a done deal. congressman ed royce is on the house foreign affairs committee. he chairs the terrorism committee. he is my guest now and, sir, good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: what do you read into this? >> bill, since the beginning we haven't been able to get answers but now we have the accountability review board's report which is dewey has to be shared with congress. we expect the secretary of state to come and answer some questions that frankly have been asked by the media and by the house and the senate. one of those questions is how is it possible we had no

contingency plan? how is it possible that over six-hour period of attacks we didn't have any helicopter gunships, we didn't have any manned drones that could be used to defend that compound? we didn't have any quick reaction team in the theater that could be sent in to defend our personnel? we lost an ambassador here after all, as well as other personnel. and then there is the whole question of the explanation because when you think about the fact that our ambassador on the ground had expressed concerns about al qaeda and the al qaeda camps increasing their operations and the attacks, frankly that it closed down the british, the red cross, even the u.n., we're stepping up, we're stepping up the defense of their facilities, and instead, you know, this falls on deaf ears. and so there are real answers to be, to be given here. somebody knows these answers. it is the secretary of

state's responsibility and it was on 9/11. somebody forgot to circle the calendar. bill: indeed on that, on all those points but secretary clinton suggested she is more than willing to testify. the question is what would be holding her back? now there's a review board that's looking at this at the state department. would you give them the benefit of the doubt? perhaps it's not done just yet? perhaps it is not finished? does it take 3 1/2 months? >> this is what is just so frustrating. not that is just took so long. if you've seen the news reports, a recent report a few weeks ago, about a month after, a month after, reporters were on the site finding two of the 9/11 memos sent by our ambassador to the foreign minister of libya and to the benghazi police chief explaining their concerns. that very day there had been a police officer, benghazi police officer, suspiciously taking photographs.

they were asking for assets to help defend that embassy. so you think about the fact that the fbi had not secured that site. here it is possible for reporters to find this information and share it with us but we're not getting straight answers and haven't gotten straight answers yet. i would say three months later it is time for some answers. bill: if secretary clinton does not testify, is the truth on benghazi buried? >> no because we're going to exercise oversight and we are going to get that report and we will eventually have our secretary of state testify as to what actually happened. during that testimony we will finally get some answers to some very pertinent questions because the necessity of having the contingency plan, when your allies put in place a

contingency plan and your own ambassador has expressed his concerns that his personnel may be attacked from al qaeda, and you're monitoring al qaeda's presence and then you, and then you distance yourself from the argument that it's a al qaeda attack on 9/11, frankly none of this made any sense from the beginning. so it is finally time, if we're going to learn from this and we need to, that's why that law is there. that is why the 1986 act was passed, foreign accountability review board for that report from the state department to the congress. we expect that report. bill: there is another page on this that's yet to turn and we'll see whether that happens. ed royce, thank you, sir. >> thank you. bill: 19 minutes past. alisyn: bill, there is a bizarre situation involving an american hero. [applause]

medal of honor resipient dakota meyer is recovering after being attacked. we'll investigate what happened. bill: mystery there. there is deadline on the health care exchange. states must decide today to set up their own exchanges or let the federal government to do it for them. we'll ask dr. marc siegel what it means for your health care in america soon. ♪ eat good fats. avoid bad. don't go over 2000... 1200 calories a day. carbs are bad. carbs are good. the story keeps changing. so i'm not listening... to anyone but myself. i know better nutrition when i see it: great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole.

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alisyn: update from the

terrible tragedy in oregon, the oregon mall where that gunman shot and killed two people before taking his own life is reopening today. we understand security will be ramped up and crisis counselors on hand. this cops as we hear from the accused shooter's family of the his aunt served as his legal guardian since his mom died when he was three. she is tearfully apologizing saying this is not the boy she knew. >> for jacob's mom, i'm so sorry for jacob caused so much pain and trauma. he was always a good buy and -- boy and caring. he l xjplaying with little kids. this is completely out of character. alisyn: well the gunman was apparently estranged from that aunt who raised him. there is no word on any possible motive. bill: we're hearing stories of heroism through all this including one man who tried

to help victim cindy yuille. first he thought the shots were something collapsing in the mall. he told his family to hide and ran to help her. >> i don't know why i did. just instinct i guess. i don't know. my adrenaline was going. i was never worried about being shot or anything like that. i was just there to help people. bill: he said two other people tried to help cindy but it was too late for her. he stayed by her side until police forced him to leave the mall saying he did not feel right leaving her alone. >> there are new details about a troubling incident involving medal of honor resipient dakota meyer. he is recovering after he was allegedly attacked by an 18-year-old last weekend. fox's anna kooiman is here with the latest. this is peculiar. what more do we know about this? >> reporter: dakota meyer recently spoke with our rick leventhal. he said he was hit over the head with a bottle and kicked and beaten on the

ground by a group of up to 10 or more people. he woke up hospital with three staples in his head. meyer says this. he gave us a statement. he said the circumstances are unfortunate and doesn't go beyond that the altercation broke out at an event facility in columbia, kentucky, called, the red barn. we're waiting to find out from police specifics on sunday's at kerrtation. authorities say the severity of charge against alleged teenage attacker suggests that dakota meyer was see rememberly injured. he was hurt bad enough to be treated and released at a local hospital. the 18-year-old is charged with second degree assault following the fight that happened in the early hours on sunday. dakota meyer is the recipient of the med tall of honor which he received last year for his role in a 2009 fight against the taliban in afghanistan. meyer killed eight insurgents and said to save the lives of 13 american and

23 afghan soldiers. meyer was recently on the "fox & friends" talking about the events that earned him the medal of honor. he was 21 at the time of the fight with the taliban, guys. alisyn: anna, this is not the only controversy that surrounded dakota meyer. >> reporter: you're absolutely right about that as well. meyer filed a lawsuit against a former employer. bea systems, defense contractor accused him of having alcohol problems and being mentally unstable. meyer claims the company lashed out against him because meyer voiced disregard for bae selling high-tech sniper scopes to the pakistani military. for details surrounding sunday's altercation we do have a call into police. back to you. alisyn: anna kooiman, thanks for the update. bill: he has had a heck of a life since coming home and being honored at the white house. bill: a u.s. marine is being held at a mexican prison for what his family says is an honest mistake. they say his life is in danger. we'll talk to the family attorney about the efforts to get him out safely.

here is his father. >> the situation now that we've gone public and that is our concern at this point. you know, it is chaos down there. [ male announcer ] when was the last time something made your jaw drop? campbell's has 24 new soups that will make it drop over, and over again. ♪ from jammin' jerk chicken, to creamy gouda bisque. see what's new from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

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bill: 9:31. we're watching the streets of cairo, egypt now. this is a day before the vote begins on this new constitution, a draft of that constitution, where egyptians will be voting for several days. this, we understand, is a

pro-morsi crowd, the current president of egypt. and there are rival protests taking place throughout cairo. we're watching this to see what happens. 4:31 in the afternoon. you're coming out of friday prayers from the mosque right before sundown. the big vote goes down tomorrow in egypt. closer to home now, a desperate plea for help from the family of a former u.s. marine locked up in a mexican jail. the family of john hammar says he is stuck behind bars because of an honest mistake. there is word he might be in danger. the young war veteran was on a road trip when he tried to cross the mexican border with a shotgun that was a family heirloom. he is locked up on gun charges in mexico. hammar's father says they are not losing hope and many people are behind him. >> it is chaos down there, you know. there is people coming and going that are good people and bad people. i get a call the other night in the wee hours of the

morning from a teacher there in there on the ground, he said, john, we read about this story and there is good people here. you know, we're not all cartel members. we're not all bad people. i said i know. i understand. she said, it doesn't help you but, you know, we're praying that you get your son home. bill: that is the father speaking there. steve harrigan now live in our bureau in miami. steve, what is the family saying about their son and the prison he is in now? >> reporter: bill, it has really been a four-month ordeal for the family. they began getting threatening phone calls inside the prison days after john hammar was arrested. the first call was a demand for $1800 to be sent via western union or the caller said your son would be killed. olivia hammar said the call made her physically ill. >> we have your son and we're going to kill him. you know, i had this really weird response, i said, no, we're going to call the

consulate. he was like, they can't help you. >> reporter: it was only after those numerous threats that john hammar was moved from the prison's general population into a storage room, bill. bill: who else is pushing for his release? who else is giving him support? >> reporter: throughout this four months the family has been initially low-key but that didn't get them anywhere. now they're becoming very public. a lot of friends and family and online petitions as well as elected officials. the family's congresswoman has implied that the state department is not doing enough to free john hammar. >> i am very frustrated that with the response of the state department. it is very [electricity crackling] ic, it is very cold. and i don't want to say that it's the state department's fault. of course the mexican government is at fault. the mexican authorities are the responsible ones. >> reporter: questions too about the legal process so far. hammer he is attorney in mexico told us one of the hearings that hammer had no

translator present either. back to you. bill: steve harrigan from the story on the legal aspect now. alisyn: joining us is john hammar's family attorney, eddie levy. he is with us live from mexico city. good morning, eddie. >> good morning, aisyn. good to talk to you. alisyn: let me make sure we have the story correct. john has been held since august. he was traveling through mexico on a road trip with a buddy. they were going to costa rica to go surfing. why did john have this antique gun with him? >> i'll tell you the way i understand they were going to go hunting in costa rica and nicaragua. they had a single shotgun in winnebago kind of a camper. they had to go through mexico to get there. that is where they were going to use it, which is sporting gun used in the united states of america. alisyn: he did all the right things. he declared the gun. he filled out all the paperwork. he alerted officials that he

had the gun and yet they still arrested him. now we understand that the prison where he is being held is notorious for housing very dangerous criminals, members of the lo is the zetas drug cartel. we have been reports he is chained to his bed in the cell, the prison officials feared he might try to escape. the state department was asked about all of this yesterday. let me play for you their response. >> this is unbelievable that the mexican government is not stepping in to help us while they take our money and take all the help we give them. it is incredible that our own u.s. government is not doing all that we can to bring hammar home for christmas. the family deserves this. he has done nothing wrong. alisyn: that was actually ileana ros-lehtinen, leading the charge to get him out. what the state department told us we fixed those

problems. he is out of the general population. he is no longer in danger and he is not being chained to his bed. is that accurate? >> let me take this one by one because the, your preamble is correct up to a point. there was something very wrong that took first place. when he went to mexico he stopped in the u.s. border site and asked a customs and bored protection agent whether it was legal to take the gun to mexico, the shotgun. he responded, yes. all you have to do is fill this paperwork and then, you're on your way. he filled paperwork but that paperwork was really to come back into the united states. the united states customs personnel had no business telling him because they don't know what mexican law states. mechanic can law states that certain kind of weapons, whether we like it or not, are used or deemed to be for exclusive use of the armed forces. that is the issue here. alisyn: in other words he got misinformation. he didn't understand that

what the rules were. so this seems like a technicality. between two countries that are allies could be quickly resolved. why is he still in prison from august? >> okay. first of all, it has to be resolved under the law. i mean people are saying with a phone call. things can happen but we, just like we have in the united states a court system. but let me put a little more depth into this. you're correct. i filed three federal injunctions. one should have been given to me about four weeks ago. the prosecutor didn't even respond to it because we allege and we proved violations of john's mexican constitutional rights. i'm still waiting right now for the judge to issue his judgment because he could be free within 24 hours once he find those violations. i already talked to the judge more than two times. now we're going, if we need we'll take it upstairs. we'll take it to the mexican supreme court. alisyn: okay. >> right now this is an issue. it is a technicality but it

gets better here. you see the caliber of the gun which is .410, what is seemed known for exclusive use for the army. the bullets are nonexclusive use for the army. only the shotgun. only thing making it okay like administrative fine it is .18 millimeters. that is the size of your finger, alisyn. that is what is ridiculous. alisyn: eddie, a lot of stuff here taken on face value does sound ridiculous. i understand you say it has to go through a court process. okay. is he getting a trial? is he scheduled for trial? >> okay, he is but i'll tell you, right now i'm putting the mexican judicial system, because of two judges really and a prosecutor who didn't use his prosecutorial discretion, that he could have used it. the first prosecutor made a big mistake in measuring the shotgun. the prosecutor's own expert had another measurement. so i have my expert because

we believe anyway that measurement is incorrect that was taken. that's what is making the difference between liberty and prison right now. but we believe and we're very, very certain that john is going to come home, i can tell you that. alisyn: i am comforted by your optimism as we also know john suffers from ptsd. he served multiple tours of duty in afghanistan and iraq. in fact he was in a gunbattle in fallujah in 2004. how he is doing today? >> let me tell you because i have spoken to him lately, his family has. we decided to do, have some strategy i'm not at liberty to discuss because i'm going to the court hearings. john, let me tell you this for the public. it is great we're all pushing for him and we need your help in that. let me tell you, john is a tough cookie. semper fi, marines, prepare them really good. you stated something else which is very true, he was moved over, when i got into the case because other

lawyers had been there and there was some legal maneuvering if you will that took place. after this i spoke to the judge personally because i wanted to cross-examine the mexican customs agent that should have released him anyway. there were two court hearings set, one for november 17th, one for november 23rd. so the judge continued hearings until january 17th, i say, november 30th we're ready to go to trial. i'm in new york with my kids in thanksgiving i get a phone call, john was taken to court on november 23rd, without his lawyer present, that's me and most important they talked to him. and i was adamant and furious because they really wanted to push him to kind of plead guilty. of course he didn't. yeah, let me tell you. after his first lawyers wanted him said you would be out in three years. i will not allow him to plead to a felony. no way. alisyn: of course you are. you are convinced of his innocence as he is.

and his family. >> i am as the family. we'll bring him out. alisyn: we like your optimism. eddie, thanks very much for the update on exactly what is going on down there. >> my pleasure, alisyn. thanks for having me. everybody keep writing letters. keep praying please. and i need all the support, especially praying. we'll, i'll be filing let me tell you that right now. -- with the judiciary. alisyn: i'm sure our viewers will comply with your requests. this is topic that is near and dear to their hearts now. thanks so much, eddie. bill: you innings ined this prison too. alisyn: very dangerous. notorious. bill: members of the zetas and other drug cartels are held there. said to be a tough, tough place. they are former special forces members of the mexican army. said to be highly involved in human smuggling and known to kill migrants for not running drugs for them. at 1:00 hour with megyn the

parents of the marine will be onto tell their side of the story. alisyn: heart-breaking for them. bill: meantime, it is decision day for the states on the president's health care law, did you know this, today? will they or will they not participate in the new health insurance markets and what will that decision mean for patients everywhere? marc siegel on that. alisyn: rock and roll right into a home. now how a giant boulder ended up inside one family's garage. re so awesomely delicious my husband and i can't stop eating 'em! what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil. potato with bacon. we've got a lotta empty cans. [ male announcer ] hear from our chefs on facebook this friday!

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throat or tongue, stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pain, or become constipated for three or more days. vesicare may cause blurred vision, so use caution while driving or doing unsafe tasks. common side effects are dry mouth, constipation, and indigestion. i've worked hard to get to where i am... and i've got better aces to go than always going to the bathroom. so take charge of your symptoms by talking to your doctor and go to vesicare.com for a free trial offer. bill: this is significant day for obamacare. today is the deadline for states to decide whether they run a key piece of this law or leave it to the federal government. it is called an exchange and what does it mean for you? dr. marc siegel, a member of our fox news medical a-team, professor of medicine at nyu langone medical center in new york and good morning to you, doctor. the exchange is what? define and remind us what it is. >> the exchange is virtual

thing. it takes place on a computer like medicare part-d. you plug in your zip code, bill, it takes you to a place where you get choices. what health policy do you want? what subsidy do you qualify for? maybe you qualify for medicaid. all of that in the same place online. bill: got it. each state is supposed to set one of these exchanges up if you do not have what, insurance through your employer or your own private insures you can go to this exchange? >> as we talked about he have, the employer may say we can't cover you anymore and more and more millions coming to the market that will have to get it from these exchanges. bill: 19 states already said we're not going to run our own exchange in our state. what does that mean for everyday americans living in that state? >> by the way, bill, i think the reason they're saying it one might argue there's politics but also issues of fiscal restraint. those 19 states may be saying hey, we can't afford to do this. we play not be able to afford to set up these exchanges. the federal government may, by current estimates will

have to spend almost a billion dollars in those states setting up exchanges. now for people out there what this will mean, if you live in one of those 19 states, come next october, you're going to have to probably deal with an exchange that the feds set up for the states and the problem with that, in my opinion, is that it adds another left of bureaucracy, because, bill, since we don't have portability of insurance, since insurance companies are state by state, it's your state government that is used to dealing with your local insurance companies, not the federal government. so if the federal government is running the exchange they may not be used to dealing with your local blue cross-blue shield. bill: that's a great point. there are 17 states and washington, d.c. say they will set up an exchange with the federal government. am i better off to live in one of those states or not? >> the far west, new york, states like that, i think you are. i think you're better off. bill: you are what? >> i think you're better off living in a state where the state is running the exchange rather than the

federal government. the federal government has not given out the plans how they will do the exchange but the states are already ramping up for it, ones doing it. if you go to minnesota's website you see a tutorial. that is terrific. you have until next october but people better start learning now. i think you're better off living in a state with an exchange. bill: you deal with medicine every day. this is your profession. that's why we have you sitting here. you say the states better understand their own distribution of healthcare better than washington does? >> by far because the insurance companies are state by state. they can't go across state lines. when an insurance company has a problem in a state they go to the state government, not the federal government. the states are used to dealing with insurance companies. i hope people are out there living in a state with an exchange. bill: you can put states in one category or the other. that seems to be way they are breaking down. we're waiting for two states to make a decision. virginia and florida. both with republican governors. we'll see what they say. >> bill, there will be a lot

of confusion and a lot of money spent. i'll tell you that. bill: dr. marc siegel. thank you, sir. good to see you as well. alisyn, what is next? alisyn: a woman lucky to be alive. she was trapped upside down in her car overnight for eight hours. we have her story. bill: u.s. sending missiles and troops to help secure turkey's border with syria. what does that say about america's involvement and the bloody civil war inside of syria? a closer look at that and what it means.

bill: a woman in massachusetts recovering after she spent a freezing night trapped upside down in her minivan. she is 27 years old. megyn hayley is her name. crashed her van wednesday night in woods on cape cod. a man walking his dog came across the wreck next

morning. firefighters cut down the trees around her. removed piece of the car in order to get hayley out after she spent the night inside. >> took 30 minutes to safely get her out. she had a serious head wound. she was able to speak. bill: she is in the hospital listed as stable. she is lucky to be alive. merry christmas. ♪ . alisyn: well it's a very festive song and it's a festive time but of course there is downside to all that festivity. time of year when many americans hit the holiday parties and some will have way too much to drink. one of those is our own william la jeunesse who just took part in a police approved study he wants us to know on booze. he is live in los angeles. william, how much wine did you consume? >> too much. i had seven glasses. some of my friends had up to

14. but tell you the holidays do mean alcohol. that means a risk of driving drunk. which is one reason people are buying pocket breatholyzers. how do you know you're over .08? are these accurate. we found what you think you know about alcohol is probably wrong. said i would take you home tonight would you be willing to do so? you said you would but what our audience didn't know, ed had been and coax for past three hours. eight in total. >> i had five glasses of wine. i'm starting to slur my speech. >> reporter: ashley, what did you drink? >> six glasses. >> reporter: i had seven glasses of white wine. >> 10 coarse lights. >> eight jack and cokes. >> 13 vodka. >> reporter: our night of boozing had one purpose. to dispel misconceptions about drinking and driving. a bigger person, fatter overweight, can they handle alcohol better? >> no.

people are heavier have less water because fat has less water. >> reporter: is it possible to feel sober at the bar and not be sober behind the wheel? >> no. alcohol volume, blood-alcohol content continues to rise after your last drink for a good 30 minutes or so. >> reporter: as we saw with the volunteer ashley. >> i'm drunk and i honestly would believe i blow over the legal limit. >> make a tight seal. .069. >> come on? i'm hammered. the. >> your blood-alcohol continues to rise for 30 minutes. >> reporter: coffee, exercise, shower, does that sober you up? >> no. wakes you up. gives you more stimulated effect. you're still feeling effects. you're still drunk. >> learn that no matter what you drink you can only metabolize so much. regardless what you feel your alcohol level is still higher than you think. >> reporter: so my blood-alcohol after those seven glasses of wine was .14. that is almost twice the

legal limit. other three guys were .15. the woman was.09. your liver can metabolize one drink an hour. anything over that, especially on empty stomach is like pouring alcohol into your brain. food does not stop you from becoming drunk or make you less drunk. as for the breathalyzers, two of them were repeatedly wrong. one was pretty good. the cops say these degrade over time. don't leave it in the glove box and risk your license on it a year later. alisyn: you are an intrepid reporter. thanks very much, william la jeunesse. bill: kudos for showing up today. alisyn: what an assignment. bill: my oh my. a break here. a jeep grand cher, tell them it's like being nestled in an eight-way, adjustable, heated and ventilated seat surrounded by a 500-watt sound system while floating on a suspension made of billowy clouds. or you could just hand them your keys. ♪

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♪ aids is going to lose. aids is going to lose. ♪ gregg: brand-new hour, fox news alert on the new fallout in the investigation into the terror attacks in libya. the chairman of the house intelligence committee, republican mike rogers saying that he believes the state department showed gross negligence by not providing adequate security in benghazi in the weeks leading up to the

attack that killed our u.s. ambassador and three others. so much more in this story. i'm bill hemmer, welcome. we are not in the condition that william la jeunesse is in today. alisyn: we feel better because we tonight have seven glasses of wine. i'm alisyn camerota in for martha maccallum today. there are also conflicting reports this morning about when secretary much state hillary clinton will testify before congress or even if she will about this terror attack. catherine herridge is live in washington. catherine, give us all the latest. >> reporter: first of all i'll start with the comments by the rub chairman of the intelligence committee where he describes the state department's actions prior to that attack as gross negligence, that means there is sufficient evidence that the state department bears some responsibility for the deaths of four americans. as we first reported here at fox news, based on the classified cable there was an emergency meeting in benghazi after secretary clinton's office was specifically warned the benghazi

conflict could not withstand a coordinated assault. there were ten camps within benge linked to islamist militia's as well as al-qaida. >> it's been typical the names are held for 48 hours. we don't know how many they are, what states they are from, who the families are and we would like to talk to them. >> reporter: new fox polls show by a wide margin that americans think president obama should have sent u.s. troops to benghazi to stop the 9/11 attacks. americans are divided over the administration's handling with the attack with a slim majority believing that it coast amount to a cover up. alisyn: will congress tullahoma lee get to see the complete report? >> reporter: that is an important question. a review of the regulations by fox news and the regulations that govern the state department apartment internal investigation known as the accountability

review board or arb does not suggest there is a specific requirement for the entire report to be given to congress, just as secretary clinton must provide her written comment to congress within 90 days of the report's completion. listen closely to this exchange yesterday. >> we'll get you the statute if you'd like. is that the secretary's response to the arb's conclusions has to go in writing to the congress within 90 days of her receiving the report. she objec obviously will intend to consult with them earlier than that as she's commit. >> reporter: if you listen closely to that response what you hear is that there is not a commitment to provide the entire unvarnished report to congress, there is only a requirement for clinton to provide her own comments, and now there has been this back and forth over whether in fact she will receive thursday next week. the state department characterized that as a date on the calendar rather than a date

certain. alisyn: so many questions remain, catherine herridge, thank you so much. congress really wants that unvarnished record. bill: we have new reaction to the u.n. ambassador susan rice bowing out of this. the fallout from benghazi weighed heavily on her decision. hillary clinton responding to this decision writing quote from the national security council, to the state department to the united nation susan has worked tireless to advance our nation's values. i am confident she will continue to represent the united states with strength and kill. alisyn: there was a long lead up to this owe digs, it goes al decision, it goes back to september 16 this when ambassador rice went on five shows and said the attack was not pre-med taeutd. that continue sreubted information that was known set. almost two months later ambassador rice's name is mentioned as a top candidate to replace outgoing hillary

clinton, and almost immediately near lie 100 republican house members write to president obama discouraging him from nominating her. at the end of november ambassador rice met with republican lawmakers to discuss benghazi and afterwards g g.o.p. senators say they are more concerned about her response tow the attack. yesterday, december 13th ambassador rice withdraws her name from consideration to be the next secretary of state. >> add this to the mix now, questions being raised after nbc news correspondent andrea mitchell talked about the withdrawal of susan rice and the perception of the republican party. this is what she said. roll it. >> i think that this had become sort of an impossible challenge for her to be confirmed. she realized that, the white house realized it as well. i think they know that they are on good political fallen ground as you pointed out. this is not going to help republicans at all the fact that

a woman, and a woman of color has been forced out of the confirmation process even before she was nominated. bill: a woman and a woman of color. i have chris wallace with me. how are you doing. >> good morning, bill. bill: i don't know how that squares with rice r* condoleezzaa rice or colin powell. >> as i heard this i'm trying to help the last time there was a white man as secretary of the state, because madeleine albright back to the clinton years, i think it was warren christopher in the first term of bill clinton back in 96 ove 96 or something -rpbgts so , so i don't know. bill: when you think about susan collins she was the moderate female senator that susan rice went to capitol hill to meet with. if they got susan collins support she'd be okay and susan collins came out and blasted susan rice.

>> susan collins is interting because susan rice had a connection to main. what happens when someone is nominated for a position there is a senator from their home state who introduces them to the committee, and it was susan collins who introduced susan rice to the committee back in 2009, and you're quite right. there were some people like lindsey graham and john mccain who were against susan rice and i'm not sure anything was going to satisfy them. when she went to see a quite moderate republican like susan collins and she came out and said she had more questions than before the meeting. i've never seen when there's been a nomination -- even before there is a nomination somebody is going up and doing that nomination charm tour to try to grease the skids on this kind of a thing to make it easier to get the nomination. this she did before she was even named and it backfired

terribly. she did badly in every session that she had with republicans and democrats. bill: let's move on now to the fiscal cliff. john boehner may go home to ohio this weekend. does that tell us anything? >> no, i mean first of all, i mean there are telephones, and there is internet. at this point a lot of the stuff is being done by staff and they are not going to their homes, both white house staff and john boehner's staff. the fact that they had the 50 minute neating and it was described as frank which in diplomatic language basically means we just talked about our disagreement, no, we are nowhere. there seems to be no progress being made and we are one week closer to the cliff as of sunday it will be, what, 16 days i think, so we're getting pretty close. bill: nowhere you're saying. you talk to these guys every day down there in washington. you're saying we are nowhere close to an agreement? >> oh, no.

i mean absolutely not. john boehner is continuing to hold the position that he's not going to bulge on tax rates. i think he probably would, but what he needs to do that not just a sort of political cover but also to get it passed by the house, republicans in the house, is he needs serious spending cuts and even entitlement reform and there seems no disposition on the part of the president or democrats to go along with that. you know, you see people like dick durbin, like nancy pelosi saying flat out, we are not going to go for any cuts to medicare right now, or medicaid. so i think that we are still at loggerheads and the race for spending cuts is going nowhere. bill: people stop me and ask me one simple question. are we going over the cliff or are we not. today you're saying we could very well. >> i would not answer yes to those folks that are asking you,

it sure looks more likely than a week ago. two weeks it may not seem like much, an awful lot can get done in two weeks. no vacations for the people here but they can get it done if there is a will. bill: we will eye see you sunday. our regards to winston. that was very touching. thank you, chris. >> thank you very much. bill: dirk durbin and kelly ayotte, two of the guests sitting down with chris wall as. alisyn: fox news alert, growing tensions in egypt this hour as rival factions take to the streets. support earths and opponents much egyptian president mohammed morsi staging massive rallies one day before voting on a draft constitution that has plunged the count are country into a political hotbed. here is the scene.

>> reporter: we are on the eave of that crucial vote. this is what it's all b. this is a copy of the draft constitution. it is 63-pages long, 256 articles and it is causing a lot of problems, including in the egyptian city today of alexandria. protestors for and against president mohammed morsi and the constitution clashing in the streets after a cleric urged a yes vote at friday prayers, he's not supposed to do that. rocks were torn, cars were torched, there were injuries and arrests. so far in cairo it has been quiet. the muslim brotherhood, promorsi forces gathering in one location in fairly big numbers. also behind us here in tahrir square and in the presidential palace the critics of the constitution and president mohammed morsi also gathering. so far the two sides have stayed apart. alisyn: is there anyway to proceed ticket what will happe predict what will happen this weekend? >> there are no polls right

now. we have kind of an idea of what is going to happen. tomorrow it is the first stage of polling. one-half of the country will be going to the polls on this constitution. the other half will be voting a week from saturday. the polls will open at 8:00am. we are told that tens of thousands of troops will be mobilized. we are told that the polling material is going to the polling station and the judges will monitor but it is so disorganized that former president carter center which has observed half the elections here decided they are going to sit this one out, it is too disorganized. we will be watching this all for. alisyn: thank you for the update from cairo. gregg: busy day here on a friday edition of "america's newsroom." new questions now after u.s. troops are dispatched near the border of turkey and syria. is america now getting even closer to direct involvement in that civil war? alisyn: new information on the massive gas pipeline blast, what investigators say about the condition of the pipeline just

before it exploded. bill: there is growing angerafter a 12-year-old girl in a pwhaoel chair i wheelchair is detained by the tsa and deemed a security threat. this is cellphone video. you'll see more of this and the incident in the girl's own words, her experience. >> there was these people saying, really you're going to do this to her, you'll have to take her somewhere private to where she is not out in the private where everyone can see her. it's my favorite time of year again

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best of all -- it's free. happy holidays. [ male announcer ] introducing bankamerideals, free for online banking customers. bill: new information on this massive gas pipeline explosion in west virginia. see that police car right there? tkwar -fdwarfed by that flame in the background. a portion of the metal gas line had thinned less than a 10th of an inch before that blast. that would explain it. >> the investigators conducted a detailed on site investigation of the ruptured pipe. this examination revealed that there is roughly a six to the

area that ran along the bottom of the pipe, along the bottom of the pipe, running for about six feet, where the pipe thickness was thinner than designed. bill: this is what you get in the end, look at those flames. the explosion destroyed four homes, charred a huge area of interstate 77 in west virginia, no serious injuries, though. officials say the exact cause may not be determined, though, for some time. they've got a clue as you can see. alisyn: there are major new developments out much syri sear out of syria. the u.s. helping turkey protect itself from growing violence in the engine. leon panetta signed a order to send two u.s. missiles to turkey along with 400 american troops, part of an effort to secure the southern border with syria. chuck nash is a former retired navy captain and a fox news

analyst. we have sent 400 troops to the border with syria. can this be interpreted as u.s. troops getting involved in the syrian conflict? >> i think this is more accurately described as u.s. troops helping out the nato ally, this is purely a defensive move. these troops are not being put directly in harm's way, they are not crossing the border. the patriot missile system is a defensive weapons system and it's being used to help the turks understand that nato is with them on this and the u.s. is doing something and taking part with germany and the netherlands. alisyn: you say this is a defensive mission only, but could there be a scenario in which these 400 troops end up having to enforce a no-fly-zone over syria? >> that is a potential, because you don't need to necessarily do that with aircraft. depending on where the missile

batteries are put in place, and the range, those missiles are perfectly capable of not only shooting down theater ballistic missiles which is the first thing that everyone would think of, the scuds to be blunt, everything is thinking about the scuds right now but you could use that system to target manned aircraft as well or uav's. alisyn: we've heard from leaders insurance nationally this week who believe that the bashar al-assad regime is close to collapsing. and if you agree how close? >> it sounds like it. even the russians are talking about evacuating their people. they have a lot of advisers in there, they have embassy personnel in there as well, military advisers, and so if they are talking about that, then look for activity around the ports of tartus and latakia. depending on how much equipment they would retrograde and get the people out those two ports would be important as well as the airports around damascus.

alisyn: meaning what if you saw more active around the ports that would mean bashar al-assad is making a run for it? >> he probably is going to want to get some stuff out of there. he would probably get flown out because they want to do it with as few of people that knew about it as possible because you would have a massive collapse in that case. no matter how this turns out you'll have a lot of bad people with access to a lot of really bad weapons. and you've got al-qaida groups in there. everybody in the main opposition is connected with the muslim brotherhood, so there really aren't any good scenarios for the end of this thing. alisyn: on that chilling note captain chuck nash thank you so much for your input. >> you're welcome. bill: a rude awakening for so many this morning. why the location of an earthquake only hours ago is telling. alisyn: and devine intervention or just bad luck? what stops two thieves from robbing a church? bill: guilt.

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alisyn: breaking news to tell you right now. there are reports of a school shooting in new town, connecticut. at the sandy hook elementary school. officials are saying there is not much information but we are getting this from our local fox affiliate, fox 61 there. they say police are reporting a number of injured parties. we are not sure if they are adults or children. they say the nature of the injuries is not clear. we are getting the information into our newsroom. students are apparently being escorted from the building in groups. there is a staging area that has been set up for parents who naturally will be terrified to receive this news, and the police are on the scene. so we will bring you any more information as soon as we have it on this unfolding story.

bill: back to that in a moment. in the mean time a powerful earthquake a few hours ago hitting the southern california coast and off the western coast of mexico here. 6.3 magnitude, about 2:30am local time, about 5:30 here on the east coast. about 160 miles off the coast of san diego here and local news reports say that folks in long beach and newport beach in southern california, they felt the shaking. dr. john ebos, a seismologist from boston college, tk morning to you, good morning to you doctor. you said interesting things to our producers. you said the interesting thing about this earthquake is the location where it occurred. how so in. >> that's right all of the earthquake we've seen off of southern california has been on the continent itself, this earthquake occurred in the rock where the continent has dropped away and now we have purely oceanic rock, very unusual for

earthquakes in southern california. >> i want to show the folks the san andreas fault, how it returns along the entire west coast of california. what you are saying, sir, is that whether or not the onshore activity is related to the offshore activity. can you make a connection or not? >> well, we'll be studying that, we don't really know. what we know is obviously the pacific ocean plate is moving relative to the north american plate, the san andreas and the other faults are the boundry. awful the demore station are on the fault or on either side of the fault. the question for us is there some plate deformation that is taking place in the oceanic rock to the west of california, could that pose a threat of earthquakes or even tsunamis. tsunamis. bill: does that help us predict the next big stpwhopb. >> it could help us predict the next big one if we see unusual

deformations offshore that are associated with earthquakes onshore. so far i don't know of any unusual onshore activity. bill: thank you, doctor. doctor john ebus from boston college in massachusetts. no tsunami on this one, the magnitude was not big enough to create one. the depth was interesting too, only about six miles, which is shallow. thank you, we'll call again on you doctor. >> okay. alisyn: back to breaking news that we just reported moments ago, that is of a school shooting in new town, connecticut, about 50 miles outside of new york city. it's a well healed suburb there. the state police are on scene. they say they are responding to a report of a school shooting at sandyhook elementary school in new town. they say there are a number of

injured parties, the nature of the injuries is not clear at this hour. they say students are being escorted from the building in groups. a staging area has been set up for the as you can imagine terrified parents who are showing up at the school. we are sending a reporter on the way there. we will bring you more information as soon as we have it.

bill: welcome back. we are ihe police department, also the school in southwestern connecticut. reports of a school shooting

only moments ago. we know very few details. but this is what we can report. state police have responded to the report of a shooting at sandy hook elementary school, which now we understand is kindergarten through fourth grade, police reporting a number of injured parties, but we don't know the extent of these injuries, obviously, at this point. alisyn: and who is injured, this means teachers, students. we are told that all schools not just this school are on lockdown after the reported shooting and police are on the scene. we have scant information unfortunately. we can imagine how terrified parents are if they are getting information from the local fox affiliate. it says afternoon kindergarten will be canceled today. there will be no midday bus service. we don't know if that was preplanned or is connected to what is going on. several troopers are responding to the school. there is a staging area outside. kids have been led out in groups

from the school. it's a terrifying situation, obviously for all parents, not even just in newtown and we will see you posted and new information as soon as we get it into our newsroom. bill: a little bit here from the "associated press." according to the superintendent speaking with reporters there at the office in newtown the district hats been on lockdown as a preventative measure. this is important now, the superintendent's secretary says that reports of a shooting are not co confirmed. we'll work through this together and gather information as we can. it just crossed the wires about seven minutes ago. be patient with us as we work through it. you mentioned a number of people escorted out of the building, perhaps that is the case. this bit of information from the superintendent's office -- alisyn: is comforting, that's comforting if it's not confirmed, where we're getting our information it's just a very tiny blurb from a website there that says that police are reporting a number of injured parties. let's hope that in the confusion of these early reports that that

is not accurate, but, again, it's impossible to know until police are able to make a statement and we are on the phone with them at this hour. bill: we are working this story. as we get more information you'll hear it here first from the police and also that school. in the meantime let's move forward on something that we came across on our latest fox polling numbers now. the latest numbers from our polling a month after the election, half of americans believe the government provides too many services for too many people. 25% say it's just right. 20% say the government provides too little. what about this now, a great panel, juan williams, fox news political anal hr*euts, mary katherine ham editor at large "hot air.com, a fox news contributor. how are you two tkofplgt merry christmas, whatever applies. i was thinking about the polling number here half the people responding says the government does too much. think about the deadline today for these health exchanges.

put those two together if you can. >> look it seems obvious to a lot of people that the federal government especially is very bloated. you talk in these numbers of trillions are really hard to put in perspective because it's more than any person will ever see in their lifetime usually. so i think that is part of where this is coming from. when you get down to the nuts and bolts of cutting certain things, people say hey i don't want that cut, or that cut, that's why we have problems with that. as far as the healthcare exchanges go i don't think anybody should under estimate where you like the bill or don't like the bill how much really intricate tough work is ahead for states and the federal government that they are quite behind on at this point in order to accomplish that. and, frankly when the government is doing a lot of stuff, in my opinion, often that it should not be involved in, you end up not being very good at a lot of things. bill: if that's the case then that 49% number gigs to go higher.

>> i would not be surprised if some of these things go very wrong and the federal government is not able to pin it on certain g.o.p. governors and people look at the thing and say, hey why did you decide to do this giant bill if you couldn't accomplish it. bill: what do you think about that juan. >> i saw in the paper, someone was quoted as saying, a republican, that basically a lot of the republican governors are cutting off their nose to spite their face. people think the federal government has too much power. here you have republican governors refusing to cooperate with the healthcare plan because it's president obama's plan and giving more power to the federal government to establish these exchanges and determine standards of healthcare inside their states. bill: they are going to save money by way of this. >> they are not going to save any money. bill: i think it's true about policy whenever it happens from federal government, there is always a ying to the yank, i yang. if you go too far voters are

going to pull you back. >> when you say to voters, yeah the federal government does too much, maybe we should stop having social security or cut become on medicare, or what about food stamps or unemployment. they say, no, no don't do that, please, no we don't want to do that. somebody has to make tough decisions. >> on the exchanges i do want to make the point like 25 states have decided not to -- about half of the states have decide. bill: 19 officially i think. >> there are some undecided as of today. bill: it could go to 25, you're right, continue. >> it's not just about politics, it's about actual technical ability to set this thing up. the federal government has no sign of what its federal exchange will look like. the federal data hub you're supposed to plug into has not yet been created, that's why they are worried about what they'll be able to do. as a matter of logistics this is very costly, tough, and the federal government by the way for political reasons did not give people even the requirements for an exchange healthcare plan until a week and a half ago.

and so now these guys are having to set this up in nine months. bill: good luck with that, juan. i'll give you the last word here. >> this to me is an argument for states saying, here is what we want to do, here is how we want to do it and using their voice, their power. bill: they are. >> which is the argument in the congress from the republicans opposing the bill saying we want states to have more authority and set their own standards and that was insisted upon by republicans, it was a point that was conceded by democrats and now you have the republican governors out of spite saying we are not going to cooperate and it's the federal government's problem. >> the fact that the federal government handled this incompetently, they haven't given anyone the standards to actually build this thing. bill: you'll get a real contrast overt next couple of years, whether the health exchange is a good idea or a bad idea, we'll measure it state-by-state. by the way, 42% say it's going to be a good year in 2013. 41% say it's a bad year.

boom. >> do you think we are a divided country. bill: right on, see you juan, see you mary catherine. have a good weekend. alisyn: we have a few updates to the breaking news we have been reported for the past few minutes, that is a possible shooting at an elementary school in newtown, connecticut, 50, 60 miles north of new york city. the new information that we have is that the shooting was reported at this elementary school, kindergarten through fourth at 9:41am, the school opens at 9:00am every day. this is according to state police. "the two town b is reporting multiple police and ambulances are at the scene, they say there are multiple reports of injuries. we have not been able to confirm this yet. our local fox affiliate says that connecticut state police are on the scene, they are responding to these reports, and another dispatch, the police dispatch says that this actually happened outside of the school, but we understand the school is

in lockdown mode, we've also heard reports of children being led out of the school in multiple groups to a staging area where their terrified parents can hopefully reunite with them. again, this is all preliminary. we have not been able to confirm yet that there was a shooting at this school, but it sounds like the connecticut state police are taking this very seriously and they are at the school surrounding it en masse. we will bring more of this information and this story to you as soon as "america's newsroom" continues. [ malennouncer ] it's tt time of year again. time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you realldon't want to pay more than you have to. only citi price rewind automatically searches for the lowest price. and if it findone, you get refunded the difference. just use your citi card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all youeed is a magic carriage.

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bill: the fog of breaking news in southwestern connecticut, we are working through the story. in newtown connecticut at an elementary school there the news crossed about 30 minutes ago and we are still trying to gather as much as we can for you this. this is what we can report. state police are assisting local police amid reports of a school shooting.

we are getting word through the superintendent's office that reports of a shooting are not confirmed. that does not mean it did not happen. the school apparently has been evacuated with children being led outside, anna is in touch with the school as well. what information do you have. >> reporter: we have our producers on the phone trying to work to get more information about the shooting that did happen in western connecticut there in the town of newtown. these are just reports. all of this is preliminary. there have been reports that at sandy hook elementary school there was a shooting. they are reporting that multiple police, ambulances and emergency crews are on the scene. there are all the am reports of injuries in that area. what we are hearing from the superintendent's office is that they are locking down the school, just simply to insure the safety of students and staff, they are not, you know, confirming anything to us at the

moment, but we can tell you that local police are being assisted by the police in the state of connecticut as well. bill: thank you. when you get more we'll bring you back on the air working that story from our newsroom here in new york. alisyn: i know newtown well, this is a very sweet, little pretty town, lots of churches and public squares, just a small town, again about 60 miles northeast of new york city, lots of commuters from new york live there. this. again is all the reports around sandy hook elementary school, we understand it's a kindergarten through fourth grade school. they start at 9:00am every day and at 9:41 this morning the newtown police began getting these calls. they rushed to the scene and there are reports of all of these police, ambulance and emergency crews on the scene, not to suggest that that means that there was a shooting, but then there are also local reports from our local fox affiliate, and the newtown bee which i'm assuming is the local

newspaper that there are multiple injuries. we have heard there are staging areas outside. x cawe can only imagine that parents would be racing to the school to try to reconnect with their children who as we also understand may or may not be inside on lockdown at this time. bill. bill: you think about colleges across the country and how they have changed and they've got even plans together, contingency plans in cases like this. you think about high schools too. you don't think about elementary schools, kindergarten through fourth grade. there is a website for sandy hook elementary school. there is no information on it of value that would lend any sort of factual information on the ground. that is your first image right now out of newtown, connecticut. let me just check the wires here real quick. alisyn: this is the first photograph we're getting from a local newspaper. you can see clearly something is happening at this school. yellow police tape surround an area and you see crowds

assembled outside. hard to tell from this vantage point if those are teachers or parents. they look like adults. clearly authorities are taking this very seriously. to your point, bill you hope that local police stations, regardless of how small, because newtown, connecticut is a small place, have done some of these drills in the horrible possibility that something like this could ever happen in their town. so they are surrounding the school. bill: we can add this too and this is important information here. the man who answered a phone when fox news called a moment ago said they have two ambulances on the scene, and that what the what waterbury is sending pwhraepbs as well. the report they have is one teacher has a foot injury after being shot in the foot. she was taken to the hospital. it is their information that police are clearing the scene. so put that together and try and figure out what happened here. alisyn: very scary stuff. we have been on the phone also with the newtown police department and our producers

report that it just sounds very chaotic there. you can imagine them fielding all sorts of calls from other schools in the area, from parents, from the media wanting information. they are doing the best they can but they do not have a lot of information yet, other than to say that we do know the school is on lockdown, and that kids and at least parents have assembled outside, and we don't know the magnitude of the injuries or how many there have been. there were initial reports of multiple injuries, but of course in breaking news it's hard to know if those are accurate. bill: we don't have the information we need right now to tell you exactly what happened, but the mind runs wild here if you have a teacher shot in the foot and the superintendent's secretary says the reports of a shooting are not confirmed. if that's the case did the teacher shoot him or herself? we don't know the children are outside, and you can imagine parents now up and down the southwestern connecticut concerned about this. its a beautiful day in the northeast as you see from the picture there, and the beautiful blue skies, high, mid 40s today,

45, 47 degrees in mid december, which is unheard of here. we are working through the story. we'll try and figure out how the kids are doing inside the school as our coverage continues. alisyn: when you go to the sandy hook elementary school website it just says that kindergarten has been canceled. we'll keep you updated.

bill: new information just joining us. there is breaking news in newtown, connecticut at an elementary school for kids, kindergarten through fourth grade. there is new information from the hartford current on its website, the newspaper out of hartford, connecticut. a number of injured parties, we are told. the nature of the injuries not clear. don't know how serious they are. there are unconfirmed reports of two shooters, one still at large, one dead.

it was 9:40 in the morning, about an hour and ten minutes ago, police report a shooter in the main office of the school, a person in one room had, quote, numerous gunshot sounds. groups of students said to be crying and holding hands, being escorted away from the school by their teachers. some of the students apparently are still inside the school as of 10:30 this morning, which would have been 22 minutes ago. >> we understand the school is now on lockdown mode. what you're seeing on your screen on the left side of your screen is the first and only, as far as we know, photo of the scene. this is from the hartford current, and that all you can see there of course is the yellow police case cord dong off the scene and some adults in the background there, hard to know if those are parents showing up at the school or teachers escorting students out. on the right side of your screen is our local fox 5 affiliate chopper heading to the scene to see more. this is new information, bill that you just reported. apparently again this is from

the hartford current, that there were two shooters and a person in one room had numerous gunshot wounds. this was apparently, according to police, they have reported that a shooter was in the main office of the school. we don't know if that is an employee of the school, we don't know if it's a parent at the school, we don't know if this is a stranger at the school, but that numerous gunshot wounds were reported. now of course i mean it's just so terrifying any time you hear that there are groups of students who are terrified and holding hands and either hiding in the school or being led out -- outside of the school. but they are being escorted by authorities, sometimes their teachers. it's hard to know again with breaking news who exactly is hurt and if this gunman is still on the loose as these initial reports are suggesting. bill: numerous gunshot wound at least to one person. if that's the case and that story holds up this could be a targeted shooting inside this elementary school. newtown, connecticut now in the town of fairfield county, southwestern connecticut.

45 miles southwest of hartford. 60 miles outside of new york city. a decent sized town, population about 27,000. but the school district itself has about 5400 kids. it's a pretty large district. this school in particular, kindergarten through fourth grade as the wnyw helicopter moves closer to that town. alisyn: it's sandy hook elementary school. about that town it's a very, very pretty town. it has a lot of beautiful town squares, churches on corners with pretty old steeples. parts of it are historic. it shows that this sort of terror parents experience everywhere, sadly. this story happens everywhere and you can just imagine how parents are feeling as they are getting this news that something apparently has happened at this school today, and there were gunshots, and that someone is

hurt, but beyond that it is hard to know if all the students are okay. we wish we could report that, but at this hour we don't have that information. bill: crime is very few to this town, very low. one violent criminal offense in 2010 is are being reported in newtown, connecticut. okay, we're working through this. we'll be on the phone with police and the school as we get more information here. let's get a break. breaking news in "america's newsroom" as we work through the developments in connecticut.

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